Salvation Army Divisional Commander Major Shawn Critch declared himself “optimistic” about the charity’s fund raising campaign, as hundreds queued for food and gifts at the charity’s distribution centre.“For our Christmas appeal, including the cheque we got in the mail this morning, we now have $85,000 to go until we reach our target of $425,000,” he said.The Salvation Army sent out its letters seeking donations on November 19 which means Bermuda gave the organisation $340,000 in little more than a month.Donations from the Christmas appeal usually continue until about mid-January.Major Critch also estimated the Salvation Army is now $125,000 short of its goal of raising $1 million for the fiscal year ending in March.It’s the most ambitious benchmark set in the history of the charity’s local branch.“We’re feeling quite pleased, but there’s still a gap to fill,” he said.Wearing a red apron alongside 15 or so other volunteers, Major Critch was bagging toys and allocating food for the needy, who lined up throughout yesterday at the JJ Outerbridge Hall in the Botanical Gardens.Donations are given out according to needs. Many were collecting food, while those with children came to Major Critch’s table to pick up toys.On the way back out, they collected turkeys and chickens, based on availability. Food vouchers from MarketPlace and Lindo’s, ranging from $50 to $100, were also given away.After handling the Salvation Army’s pickups of food and toys for eight years, family services manager Lynn Gordon said she knows “all the clients” who rely on the charity’s assistance.Despite the decorations in the collection hall, this year’s atmosphere was different.“The mood has been very sombre,” she said. “It’s not as jolly down here as it’s been in the past.”Many of the clients in this year’s queue are new to the charity’s team of volunteers.“I’ve seen a lot of new faces, and my son says that I know everybody in Bermuda,” Ms Gordon said.However, she added: “I was feeling unsure about this year. I was thinking, there are so many people out of work, I’m not sure we’re going to be able to handle it all.“I don’t know why I felt like that, because people and companies have been so generous. They just want to help.“I want to thank all the faces who are behind all this work. It starts in November. And because we have so many people who are out of work, we got people calling us to help out.“For me, it all comes back to God. We are a Christian organisation, and God always comes through.”She estimated around 500 families were being catered to that day.“We were here at 8.30am and we’ll keep going until 4.30pm,” she said. Any leftover donations will be given out this morning.Surveying the lines, Ms Gordon noted that chickens often collected by single people were being picked up more quickly than usual.“It’s a mixture, it’s all sorts of people,” she said.Individual donations aside, the Salvation Army is greatly assisted by the Island’s corporate community.Staff, management and directors at HSBC Bermuda recently combined forces to donate $10,000, in lieu of gifts and other Christmas events.Bank chief executive officer Phil Butterfield credited the Salvation Army as an organisation that “touches the lives of so many people in Bermuda”.He said: “We truly appreciate the great work and hope that our contribution inspires the public to continue to support such a vital service.”A smaller company, West Hamilton Holdings Limited, was happy to gather $1,000, chief financial officer Harrichand Sukdeo said.The property developers owns a number of parking bays that they rent out. Mr Sukdeo said they raised their donations from the Hamilton Christmas Boat Parade.If you paid $2 to park in Hamilton that night, your money may have gone out in the post to charity this week.“They do a fantastic community service providing to the needy in our community,” Mr Sukdeo said.